For Me?
by DarkShinRa
Summary: After coming home for Christmas after being away for four years, Leon comes to realize that his reasons for leaving were for naught. He left in hopes of destroying his feelings for a certain blond, but it didn't work as well as he thought it would. LxC.
1. Chapter 1

Characters don't belong to me.

This is a Shounen-Ai, MxM, don't like? Don't read.

00000

For Me?

00000

Leon understood why many of the kids in his town were afraid of him; though truthfully, he thought he was pretty average to any other boy about. He wasn't tough, since he would be the first one to hide inside a closet whenever his guardian was ever angry at him, or one to hide under the covers whenever there was a thunderstorm. But some things were worth pretending.

He had gotten the tough guy reputation when he had broken professor's Xemnas nose at the beginning of his fourth grade year.

It was a fracture well deserved, he thought.

He would have been kicked out of school if he didn't have a truly valid reason for his transgression, and in the end, the one who was kicked out of the facility was the professor Xemnas himself.

After all, what good citizen of Radiant Garden would allow a criminal to go on with their criminal ways?

Leon would admit to himself that he would have let the matter pass if the criminal's victim wasn't his much beloved brother. He later thanked his guardian Ansem endlessly for his instructions in the fighting arts, though young and skinny he might have been, defenseless he was not.

The book which he used to commit such action was neatly placed next to his bed, covered in a white cloth that he would always gaze at before getting out of bed, in remembrance of the promise he had made to himself that day. He will suffer no one hurting his dearest.

Therefore, when the population thought him a menace, he made sure everyone knew his valued company, and eventually, no one ever came close to looking at Cloud in any wrong way, at least when Leon was around.

The brunet couldn't remember the first day he met Cloud, since they were in each other's lives practically forever when they, along with a few other orphans, were placed in the care of Ansem, who became a well loved parent to the five younglings. But even though Leon was unable to remember the first time he saw the smaller blond boy, one thing he had always remembered, and that was that no one messed around with his little sibling. Yes, including the other three girls… but they were girls, no one bothered girls, at least, not in the mind of a protective young boy.

And so, seeing as Cloud was frailer than everyone else, who got ill more often than the others, and always caught the attention of bullies, Leon made sure that the blond boy would eat sufficiently by force, made sure that Cloud stayed warm on winter days by threatening to choke him with a scarf if he was out for too long, and by making the impressions of 'If looks could kill' whenever someone looked his way.

Unfortunately, not knowing a kinder way to show Cloud that he was being looked after, the smaller boy was also afraid of his protector.

The logic was lost to Leon, who only saw the reasons behind his actions and nothing else.

Therefore, he never understood why Cloud would attack back at any benefiting comment thrown at him. Leon only saw this as stubbornness, and stopped questioning the reasons.

Now, as he stood outside their moderate two story house, waiting for the rest of the siblings to finish up the last touches of preparation for a new school year, Leon unconsciously took in the temperature and deemed it a too cold of a day. He narrowed his eyes toward the door, to see how Cloud would be dressed once he came out as well.

The long gray haired Ansem stepped outside with a warm coat, ready to start the car to drive his children to school. His features were a bit tensed, but Leon didn't blame him after the happenings of that early morning. The youngest, Yuffie had tied Pluto next to Lucifer in the basement, and you can guess the consequences… luckily Aerith found them and untied them before they did any serious damage to each other.

Ansem seemed quite tired, and Leon found himself feeling tired as well. Yuffie never saw the danger of certain pranks, but the hyped girl sought attention in any way possible. After a moment, the older man turned and looked at Leon, and after seeing the forlorn expression on the brunet's face, smiled and clapped his hands together.

"Hey, how are you feeling at almost starting your first day of a new school year?" he asked happily, willing a smile to the young man's face.

"Ah, nothing to worry about old man, I'm going to be seeing the same people I see around here, so I don't think it'll be any different. And of course, how can I forget the classes you gave me over the summer… that will definitely boost me in my studies. Thank you again."

"Anytime, just remember… try not to get into any trouble, now Merlin may be a good friend of the family, but his responsibilities as a principal of a school, he has rules to go by. And I don't want to have to visit any of your professors regarding troublemaking, Leon."

"I promise dad, but you just have to understand… I never look for trouble, it's the other way around," he almost whined. "And besides, wouldn't you do the same if our places were switched?"

"Tifa and Aerith are very well prepared to defend the others, don't forget that. And Cloud can fend off for himself too, and who in the world will face off such a culprit as Yuffie?"

"But that's not the point…" he complained, knowing that Cloud wouldn't do enough to protect himself. "Cloud is not strong enough…"

"Says who?!"

Both male turned around to stare at an indignant Cloud standing in between his sisters, he was pouting, looking at Ansem to deny what his brother had so obviously exaggerated.

Before Ansem had a chance to respond, Leon had looked over at Cloud, and decided he didn't like the way he was dressed for the day.

"What? You think its plain summer out already? Or do you like how people can see how skinny you are without enough clothes on?"

"Shut up, I'm not skinny," the blond argued, already wondering if in fact, the people will really see how skinny he was.

"Another sweater will fill you up a bit, and no one will make fun at you," Leon suggested. Ansem smiled inwardly before walking toward the car.

Seeing the look of anger in Leon's face, Cloud hurriedly went back inside the house to put on something that will make him look less skinny, leaving a smirking Leon standing outside.

00000

On a warm summer day, when the excitement of being out of school was still fresh, the girls had been taking a swim in the pool, and Leon had been climbing the apple tree to try and get a midday snack, a curious Cloud had watched his older brother expertly maneuver himself between the branches of the tall tree. Amazed, he excitedly wanted to give it a try as well. He thought that maybe he would impress Leon too.

Once Leon saw Cloud approaching with eager eyes and his hands reaching out to reach for a branch, he realized at what the blond was about to do. The thought of having the blond boy climbing any tree was enough for Leon to snap at the younger boy to stop him from getting any further ideas. But perhaps telling an indignant Cloud that he would look like a yellow monkey climbing a tree was a very bad idea.

Having been angered, Cloud yelled back at the offender that in fact, the only monkey in the area was already up in a tree, and to prove to himself that he was able to climb it without having Leon call him a monkey yet again, he ignored Leon's warning and grabbed onto his first branch.

"Get down Cloud, I'm warning you!" Leon straightened out, miffed that Cloud had once again ignored his order.

"If you can do it, so can I! You always think you're better than me," Cloud yelled, while reaching for another branch, already huffing and puffing.

"I said get down!" the brunet thought that his eyes would pop out of their socket as he watched the blond get further from the ground.

"Make me!"

Leon growled and started climbing down, wanting to get to the boy's side at least to keep him from falling down. Unfortunately, Cloud thought that his brother was coming after him to get him down by force, and he felt the beginning of fear building inside.

He wasn't aware that the fear was making him nervous, and his movements clumsy. A moment later the blond found nowhere to grab onto, and he held down a cry of panic. His foot hold was lost, and a second later, he was falling.

He screamed out at the same time Leon did.

Leon knew that the he felt the fall more strongly, literally felt the impact even though he was still safe in the tree. He stood frozen on its branches, but Cloud's crying knocked him out of his stupor.

When he reached the bottom, Leon saw the Cloud was holding onto his wrist, crying as if nothing as painful he had ever experienced.

Reaching his side, he quickly looked over the blond to see if there was any more damage, but luckily the only thing that seemed wrong was Cloud's wrist. When Leon tried looking at it, the blond turned away, still crying in pain.

Ansem had come out from the den, and Leon was amazed at the effortless swiftness in which he had picked up Cloud from the ground, and hurriedly carried him into the house.

After the amazement, there was jealousy, because then and there, Leon wished for Ansem's physique.

Cloud's left wrist had been placed in a cast the same day, but his happy mood had returned as soon as Leon asked him if he would allow him to sign it. Though things went back to normal, the brunet had made one more promise to himself.

The next day, Ansem walked in on a fifteen year old Leon, beginning a new exercise regime.

00000

There was a time when Cloud found himself getting used to Leon's ways without noticing, finding that they did have things in common and much to talk about, a day when he found himself going up to Leon for advice or help.

Leon noticed the change soon after Cloud had turned thirteen, and he inwardly felt joy that he had gotten Cloud's trust in mostly everything in life, though still not as strong as he wanted to be, Leon made sure to keep the blond away from harm and troubles.

There was calmness about it all, and they were both happy with it.

00000

There was one thing confusing Leon, confused him when he found himself staring at Cloud sometimes, but he didn't know why. He also didn't understand why he would have odd dreams about the blond too. He was at a lost as to why his face would heat up whenever Cloud smiled his way, or when the other got a bit too close to him.

He came to the realization one day while walking down the park on a winter day, snow up to his ankles and flurries blowing all around.

"I feel like a bear," mumbled Cloud, who happened to be wearing quite the many sweaters and extra pair of pants that Leon made him wear if he even thought of stepping outside that day. He could barely move, and he felt that if the scarf was any tighter, he would get strangled, his fur hat almost covering his eyes.

"You are fine, why it bothers you to be warm?" questioned Leon.

"It doesn't bother me, but having all this stuff on me is a real nuisance. Why, you haven't got on yourself as many as I have on me. If it's so cold that I need all these clothes on me, shouldn't you need it too?"

"I'm way older than you Cloud, I can take this weather."

"Nonsense, as always," Cloud said with a barely visible smirk. Leon smiled and pushed him away.

"Don't push me you big dork," the blond responded, almost falling into the snow covered ground. He gathered a fistful of snow and formed it into a hard snowball which managed to hit the side of Leon's face.

It hurt, and stung, and the look that Leon sent Cloud's way was enough to make the barely movable blond try to run for his life.

Leon watched as Cloud did his best to get as far away from him as he could, looking back to see his progress. The blond had a wide smile on his face, and concentrating more on moving his feet more than anything else, managed to stumble against an object under the snow, and he fell face first into the whiteness.

The brunet was on his side in an instant, picking him up and brushing away the snow that had gotten into the blonde's hat and face, concern marring his handsome face, but soon broke away when he heard the laughter from Cloud.

Leon could only stare at the laughing blond, enjoying the sparkle that seemed to light in his eyes, and the feeling that came a second later was enough to throw him in a whirlpool. Because the desire to kiss those pale lips was as much of a shock as it was a feeling of alarm.

The older teen didn't question why he was running away from the blond a second later, and he ignored the voice calling after him.

00000

Leon stayed away from the blond as much as he could after that, disgusted and angered by what he felt that day and by what he was feeling still.

And when the time came for him to apply to a university, he made sure that he applied to the ones that were not in Radiant Garden.

The reply came back a few months later, unfortunately not the furthest away, but it was still not in his hometown, and he was relieved.

Ansem had been surprised by Leon's choice, but when he confronted him, the brunet had simply told him there were things he needed to think over, and to do that, he needed distance and time. His father had not questioned him further, trusting his son's decision and supporting him as best as his heart could.

His sisters were confused at first, but they bought the story of Leon getting a better education outside Radiant Garden, though they were saddened by it.

Cloud had been angry and hurt. He had been for a long time. Leon becoming more distant and spending less time with him had pained him deeply, but the decision to move away to Twilight Town was even worse. The young teen felt that he was the reason for the happenings, and felt angry at himself for causing such circumstances.

When the day came for Leon to take the ship out of Radiant Garden, Cloud had locked himself in his room, and didn't open it for anyone.

Leon had felt a twinge of regret, but quickly thought of the consequences of staying in Radiant Garden, and so, he didn't bother to wait out Cloud's tantrum, and left without saying goodbye, though he hoped that the blond knew that he would miss him terribly.

00000

A year later, Leon saw how good a decision it was to leave, he forgot about the odd feelings for his brother, but still saw fit to do everything in his power to be able to protect him when he met him again. He met friends, he met girls, and he met with the life that he believed he was supposed to lead.

00000

Tbc


	2. Chapter 2

Characters don't belong to me.

This is a Shounen-Ai, MxM, don't like? Don't read.

I would like to thank all of you who had review or placed me in story alert and on favorites. It means much to me.

00000

For Me?

00000

Chapter 2

The Reminder

00000

She had told him to meet him at the Diner, and as he stepped out of the small studio which he had occupied for the past four years, he had a mind to return to get under the covers. The temperature seemed to be 20 below 0 degrees, and with four blocks to walk to get to the diner, Leon once again wondered why he was trying so hard.

But if he didn't get there, he would have to suffer her irritating complaints. And although he cared for her very much, he didn't have the patient to deal with it. With that in mind, he shoved his hands in his coat pocket, and walked rapidly toward the diner.

The warm air was welcoming as he stepped through the doors of the café; he took off his scarf and walked toward the black haired young woman that was waving at him from a seat next to the back door.

She looked as lovely as ever, with reddened cheeks and pink lip gloss, natural beauty that needed no other cosmetics, and he wondered how he had gotten the chance with such beauty. Leon took a seat in front of her after giving her a sweet kiss.

"I'm glad you're early, I was about to order without you," she mocked. "Can you believe the things I've seen _just_ today? And it's only eleven. You're not going to believe that Seifer and Quistis will host the Christmas celebration! Oh my goodness and they have no sense of style of entertainment. I can just imagine the disaster."

Oh, right. How could he forget the blabbering, but he had learned to just ignore the ranting and focus on the good things, most of the times. He picked up the fading menu and went through the list.

"And Rufus and Scarlet were making out like bunnies, after all the denial," she whispered. "But I can't say that they'll be happy if his father finds out about it… since we all know Scarlet is not very… ladylike."

The French toast sounded like the very perfect dish, along with some hot coffee.

"Of course, only someone who wished to die a slow death would squeal on them, but poor Reeves, he was walking with me from the dorms and he saw them too. He was heartbroken. I can imagine how he must've felt seeing his ex with such a spoiled son of the university's president."

After making up his mind, he closed the menu and looked at his girlfriend, and when he saw that she was about to move her lips again, he interrupted her before she continued.

"Rinoa, do you know what you're going to order?" he asked, trying his hardest no to come off too rude.

She seemed surprised, and smiled sheepishly and took up her menu. She went through the first appetizers when her concentration took a turn to something more recent, and suddenly, the sad smile was making Leon too curious as to not to ask what she was thinking about.

"Nothing much sweetie, it's just that we still haven't put up a Christmas tree at your place, and it looks so devoid of holiday spirit," she said sadly. Leon raised an eyebrow at that. Without remembering if she had decided on her order or not, he raised his hand and waved to the waiter, anything to take her mind off of this. "It's such a wonderful feeling to have a tree at home."

"My place is too crowded for such a thing Rinoa," he responded. "Besides, I don't want to."

In truth was that he considered celebrating the holiday with family, and since he wasn't with them at the moment, he reasoned that his decision was right. And as long as he never did anything that would bring up family, he would be just fine.

"But you need a Christmas tree sweetie," she said. "After we finish here, we'll go shopping for the right things," she nodded to herself, readying herself for the task ahead.

Leon suddenly glared at her, the look silencing her without pause. Like hell he would agree to that.

It wasn't that she was afraid of Leon, far from it. She had known him to be quite forceful when angered, but he has never shown any violence behavior toward her, nothing more than a strong grasp on her arms. He was quiet, but easy to irritate sometimes and easy to anger, but his charm was stronger, and that's what she liked.

But his eyes held such intense glares, that they never failed to stop anyone right on their tracts. Anyone that didn't know him like she did, she supposed.

She was aware that when Leon said something, he expected it to be done, no questions asked and no doubts shown. But she was stubborn in her own way. It was the same stubbornness that had finally caught Leon, after months of trying to get his attention.

For Leon, Christmas carried too many memories of home, and stopping the memories was what had stopped him from forgetting about his reasons for leaving in the first place, and taking the first ship out of Twilight Town to Radiant Garden, a ship toward home. And during the special holiday the desire was stronger.

He remembered his father, Ansem, bringing in the largest tree that he could get his hands on. Having Aerith and Tifa shop for the decorations and picking the perfect colors. Of Yuffie, begging and hoping that she would be the one to place the bright star when all was done. When Cloud and Leon pretended not to want to do anything with decorations, but quietly excited to participate in the any way possible.

He shook his head in hopes to get rid of the memories, and growled under his breath for having them shoved into his head on such a cold day.

The waiter had made it to their table, and Leon quickly placed his order. Rinoa seemed to snap out of a trance and panicked when she realized that she didn't know what to order. In the end, she ordered the same as Leon.

When the time came, and Leon had asked for the check, he noticed that Rinoa had barely touched her plate, not feeling the slightest concern about it, he ignored it as he waited for the waiter.

She realized that her miserable looking eyes and her loss of appetite weren't going to warm him to her ideas, and she mentally cursed herself of not having her mother's skills.

Julia had the most perfected skills of making Mr. Caraway fall for her every whim, unfortunately, Rinoa didn't inherited that useful ability. Maybe it was a skill that didn't seem to work with Leon and not with her lack of talent.

While Leon was making the payment, Rinoa thought of a great idea.

00000

When Leon walked into his apartment a week later, his eyes almost fell out of their sockets.

The walls of his small studio were filled with holiday's confetti and a three feet pine Christmas tree in a corner, with colorful lights and bright decorations. Standing under the archway that divided the small hall from the kitchen was one self-satisfied looking Rinoa.

Leon found himself taking deep breaths and calming himself, and when he thought that he was quite calm, he looked at her as if she was a stranger.

"What is the meaning of this?" he asked. Ignoring the slight tremble of his voice, he walked in and closed the door behind him.

"Silly, what does it look like? It's a surprise," she stated, seemingly quite proud of herself.

He stood and looked around his apartment once more, slowly feeling the irritation coming. He dropped his book-bag with a bit of force onto the floor.

"Who told you to do this?" was what he wanted answered. "I told you I didn't want this Rinoa, wasn't I speaking in the right language?"

She heard it in his voice, the suppressed anger that he was trying not to show.

"I know you didn't mean it Leon, everyone loves to get into the Christmas spirit. I figured you didn't want to admit into not having enough time to get into it, so I saved you the time and started things for you," she said. "This way, we can celebrate our first Christmas together the right way."

"I told you I didn't want this Rinoa," he stated a bit more tersely. "What part of the whole thing didn't you understand?"

The smile slowly faded from her face.

"Take this stuff down," he said. "Take it down right now."

"But Leon… there's nothing wrong…"

"I _said_, take it down!" he shouted, making her start and pout sadly. When she showed no signs of doing just that, he started walking briskly toward her, and she took a step back without meaning to.

How he would have forced her to do what he had wanted, stood without saying, for fortunately for Rinoa, the telephone rang, and the moment dissolved into curiosity as Leon looked toward the telephone and then toward the clock.

He never received any calls at such hours of the night. It was past ten o'clock; surely people had manners as to not bother others at this time.

Turning from his previous route, he quickly reached for the ringing phone.

"Yes?"

His eyes widened in recognition after a few seconds, for on the other line there was someone he knew.

"Mr. Merlin?"

00000

Tbc

00000


	3. Chapter 3

Characters don't belong to me.

This is a Shounen-Ai, MxM, don't like? Don't read.

I would like to thank all of you who had review or placed me in story alert and on favorites. It means much to me.

00000

For Me?

00000

Chapter 3

Getting Home

00000

"Can you hurry the hell up Rinoa? I want to get home 'today'," The brunette scolded, pushing himself from the wall he was leaning on as he watched his girlfriend go through the magazine stand in the small luncheon that they had stopped in.

"Just a minute Leon, I'm looking for something," the black haired, fair face young woman replied, sticking her tongue out playfully at him.

The annoyance was surfacing again, he noticed, but he pushed it back, it wasn't the time to start anything in public. He was in a rush and the woman was taking her time in something as stupid as celebrity gossip. He hated to be kept waiting, and the fact that he still had a 4 hour trip to get to his father's house before midnight was pressure on his head.

He might have put his annoyance aside, but impatient he was, and that he couldn't help.

"I'll be waiting in the ship, if you're not out in three minutes I'm leaving without you. You can take the public gummi ship to get there," he warned, and not a sign of amusement was in his voice, or his eyes.

Rinoa looked at him, and she knew he was serious. Flicking a lock of hair that had fallen in her face, she sighed angrily before walking away from the stand.

"Fine! Have it your way… you know, it'll be nice if you were a bit more patient with me," she complained, realizing that things like these weren't the only things that he was impatient with.

"Stop being a baby, we have hours to drive, and I want to get home," he stated, not waiting for her to comment on it, he turned around and began walking toward the exit. She grunted angrily before following, wishing he would have been a bit more understanding.

00000

"And I didn't want to do it because I just KNEW that she had something on her sleeves…" a girly laughter followed its own story, and Leon only snorted. Though the conversation weren't interesting, he thought that hearing Rinoa's voice while driving for hours was a little comforting. The words barely registered in his head, but the sound of it was just enough.

"But of course, she straightened out once I told her that you were taking me to meet your father… seriously Leon, I am just so happy that you decided it was time."

Leon mentally grunted. It wasn't the total truth he admitted to himself. The plan was to spend Christmas in his own place with a few of his friends and his girlfriend of one year. But after receiving a phone call from his hometown, he threw that plan out the window, but knowing that Rinoa was looking forward to spending their first Christmas together he decided to just take the girl with him, even though what it meant to him was different than what it meant to Rinoa.

"It'll be a full house, that's for sure…" he said. "My sisters and my little brother will be there as well."

He was a very nervous about going back home. After all, four years without visiting his family was too long to think that nothing had changed. At first he had called frequently, but those calls became less numerous. Leon knew he only did it for his own good. It was hard not to miss them when he was calling them all the time.

Leon had left them to attend Twighlight University, and with studying and working, he never found the time to visit his family, something that he was always feeling guilty over. It was an excuse, and he knew it, there was more behind it, but it was easier to forget about it and blame it at studying hard

"You should've told me this before Leon… I would have bought something to bring to all of them. Imagine how I feel now, me showing up with empty hands," she was in the verge of panicking, and that sparked a streak of irritation within Leon.

"Calm down, it's not like they are expecting anything from a stranger."

"Me, a stranger? I am your girlfriend, how can you say that?"

"You are my girlfriend, but they don't know who you are, so that pretty sums it up as being a stranger…" a sigh. "Are you sure you weren't born blonde?"

"Leon…that is the meanest thing I've heard all day from you. Don't talk to me… you're not my favorite person at the moment," she turned her face toward the side window, crossing her arms across her chest.

He hated when she acted as childish, and that angered him more, but he let it pass once again. His eyes locked on the path, and his mind playing images of his younger days. He wondered if the girls were dating descent men, and if Cloud finally grew up to be a stronger person.

But after four years, and with help of a phone call, he thought that the time had come to join them, even if it was only for a few weeks.

It was a surprise arrival, none of them had any idea that he would be showing up in mere hours; he wanted to see their expression once they opened the door and saw their missing one after so many years.

00000

His heart was hammering hard against his rib cage as he parked the ship at the station. It felt odd stepping foot again in Radiant Garden. After registering the ship for the parking space, he quickly pulled Rinoa along with him and stepped into the streets of his old hometown, where the first gusts of winter winds hit them both at the same time.

The streets were covered with snow, some houses with Christmas decorations and some others just beginning at it. He was able to catch a taxi very quickly, and in fifteen minutes, they were both standing in front of the door to Ansem's home at eleven o'clock, the lack of light signifying how late they had gotten there.

The cold was getting to him, he wondered if he had come as prepared as he hoped he did, and not only to face the weather.

He couldn't help but stare at the lightless house; the only active activity seemed to be the smoke coming out from the chimney.

Leon knew they were all asleep.

Shakily, he brought his index finger up, and hesitated a moment before pushing the doorbell. He felt his heart doing flip flops, and he had the strangest feeling of light headedness, hoping that the nervousness wasn't enough to get him puking all over the place.

A bark resounded from inside the house, and a smile unwillingly came to his face. A minute later, the door opened and Leon almost cried when he saw his father with half lidded eyes in the doorway.

"Hi," the brunet murmured, not knowing what else to say, fighting the tears that threatened to spill from his eyes.

Ansem's eyes widened as he recognized the man in front of him and with a laugh opened his arms wide to receive his oldest, almost crying himself. Leon quickly fell into the embrace, tears prickling in his eyes, his body shaking.

"My boy, you're home, my dear boy," Ansem managed to choke out, voice full with emotions. After they both got themselves calmed, they pulled away from each other, Ansem taking time to study the young man in front of him with a look of pride and satisfaction, Leon noticed the still watery eyes of his father's. It was a few minutes before Ansem noticed the girl next to him.

"Oh, and who is this young lady?" he asked, already suspecting the answer. Before any of the young ones in front of him could even answer, Ansem had taken a look out to the frosted night, and unconsciously berated himself for not inviting them in sooner. "Come on in children, it's very cold out."

He moved aside to let them in, holding Leon once again in a strong embrace when he stepped inside.

The house was quiet, but suddenly, Leon felt a push on his legs. He looked down to see old Pluto, wagging his tail and sniffing about him.

"Hey boy, how are you?" he knelt down to ruffle the dog's ears, receiving a good humored bark from the old pet, surprised that he seemed as strong as when he left him. His mind quickly turned to their old cat Lucifer, and wondered if he was still around too.

Ansem watched in joy.

"LEON?" Leon looked up to see a tall teen at the stair way, her short black hair and familiar eyes giving her away. She hesitated first, not sure if her eyes were deceiving her. After being awakened by the doorbell, she had not bothered to investigate who it was, thinking that it was old Merlin again, asking for another cup of sugar at the ungodly hours of the night, but after hearing strange voices, her curiosity got the better of her. Her question was answered by a nod from Ansem, and suddenly she ran toward her brother, and Leon was ready for her.

"Yuffie, how you've grown," he stated as he embraced the young girl, hearing a sob escape her. She had grown quite a lot in these few years, and Leon suddenly regretted not having been there to see her grow.

"We've missed you so much," the words ate at his heart, knowing that it was true, and knowing that he had missed them just as much, if not more.

"I missed you all very much too kiddo."

Her previous yell managed to wake the others it seemed, since Aerith and Tifa were soon heard running down the stairs, and after a surprised shock, broke into joyous laughter, watery eyes and were able to tackle the brunet.

Aerith was in tears a second later, Tifa on the verge of it, but not giving in to her emotions like always.

After getting themselves up from the woodened floor, they were able to embrace in a normal way, Tifa moved away while feeling his arms.

"Gee Leon; you've finally put in some nice muscles if what I just felt under that jacket is true."

Leon had the decency to blush, shrugging shyly and receiving giggles from his sisters. Yuffie soon wanted to see if it was true, and almost stripped Leon off his jacket. But a sound next to them made them all stop and turn around. Rinoa cleared her throat once again, looking at the brunet and waiting to be introduced.

They all looked at Leon then, waiting for him to talk. He felt a twitch in his eyes, feeling a bit guilty over not doing this before, but also angered for having a great moment ruined.

"Oh, this is Rinoa… my girlfriend," he took Rinoa's hand. "Rinoa, these are my sisters… Aerith, Yuffie and Tifa, and…" his voice trailed off, and he looked around him, expecting another figure in the room. The thought of Cloud still angry at him had never crossed his mind till that moment, and he felt a pang of fear and disappointment.

"Where's Cloud?" he asked weakly, dreading the answer. Fearing to hear that Cloud had decided to stay in his room and not welcome his brother back.

Ansem smiled, "He has become quite the heavy sleeper Leon, and not even a screaming pack of hyenas would wake him. I will go and get him; he would very much like to see you.

The words comforted him a little, but as Ansem started making his way toward the stairs, the thought of having Cloud waken from his sleep didn't go well with Leon. "No… dad no, if he's asleep, then it can wait till the morning," he stated, and Ansem nodded.

Aerith clapped her hands, feeling a little devilish, she looked toward Leon and wiggled her eyebrows. Leon raised an eyebrow in question, but Tifa, after making sure Rinoa wasn't looking, rubbed her two index fingers, and murmured a 'shame, shame, shame' for old sake. Yuffie giggle and threw in some kisses for back up.

Leon covered his face, and looked toward Rinoa. She seemed to be feeling uncomfortable, and he felt saddened by that thought.

Aerith smiled and looked at the time, "It must have been a pretty long trip, you both are tired, and I believe we can all wait a couple of hours to share some stories. To sleep it is, both of you."

"Your room is as it was Leon, the girls will take care to prepare the guest room for Rinoa upstairs," his father confirmed. Rinoa looked a bit confused and frowned.

"Am I not going to stay with Leon?" she asked innocently. The three girls and their father first looked at her, and then back at Leon, then back again. Feeling his face becoming like that of a tomato, Leon cleared his throat.

"Excuse us a minute…" Leon told them, taking Rinoa by the elbow and leading her into the grand kitchen. He sighed awkwardly as he faced her. "Listen, I'm sorry I didn't tell you, but my father wouldn't accept such a thing, especially if we aren't married.

"But we have been sleeping together for a year Leon, what does it matter now?"

"I know, but please… let's just amuse him for now, eh? You will be right by the girl's dormitories."

She sighed angrily, before smiling and kissing him on the lips. "Fine, can I sneak out at nighttime and join you?"

"Rinoa…"

"I was kidding…I'm so tired, let's get to sleep."

00000

His room barely had been changed at all, and the fact that it was still clean made him feel heartbroken, for surely, his family had kept it that way with hopes of his return.

He quietly closed the door behind him, taking a deep breath and releasing it with a smile. The brunet had missed this very much, and though his reasons for leaving had seemed just, he now began to wonder if it was all but a foolish move.

The white walls seemed to have been repainted, and the once blue borders were turned a lighter blue, the long curtains being of a darker one. The small sofa that he had owned when he was younger was changed to a new one, to a loveseat. A glance at the full size bed became a much great desire to get in it and fall asleep.

Sitting on the bed, he touched it to see how soft it was, he smiled goofily as he threw himself back and landed in a heap of feathery pillows. There was a knock on his door, and then his father appeared inside the room, closing the door behind him and walking toward the brunet, sitting down on the edge of the mattress as Leon watched behind half lidded eyes.

"I know you are tired my son, but I want you to know how much it gladdens me to have you back home. I have missed you."

The sad expression that Ansem wore sent him over the guilty road again. Leon sat up and looked at his father at heart.

"I have missed you too dad, all of you."

A smiled tugged at the oldest lips.

"And may I know what brought this pleasant surprise this day?"

"Ah… well, just things I guess… I, I mean… I am sorry for not visiting dad, but I just got caught up in things."

"No reason to explain yourself to me. Before you left, you told me your reasons for leaving though vague they were. I only hope that your reasons for coming back are because things are settled?"

Leon laughed softly.

"Now is this lady the one you're planning to marry? It is the reason why she's here, is it not?"

Leon unconsciously shuddered, and Ansem frowned.

"Well, I don't think she's the type I would want to marry dad…"

"Then…"

"It was going to be our first Christmas together, but things changed, and though I don't see myself being with her for the rest of my life, I still couldn't help picturing her hurt expression."

He suddenly found it very funny, and he laughed harder. Ansem didn't understand at all, but ruffled the brown locks. And then, Leon couldn't help but ask.

"How's Cloud been?"

His father sighed, thinking about one of his youngest. "Leon, he did not take well to your leaving, but I'm sure you knew that."

Leon nodded, thinking back on Cloud's forlorn expression once he found out about his plans.

"Has he gotten stronger? Has he got a nice girlfriend?"

"That boy doesn't seem to be doing any growing," Ansem laughed warmly. "And he never showed any interest in anyone, he's become quite the loner."

The brunet sighed heavily.

"Your sisters are always trying to make him come out of his shell, but that boy is too stubborn. When he says no, there's no one who can make him change his mind."

At least that had not changed, Leon thought.

"He blames himself," Ansem stated. "After you left, he told me that he thought it was his fault somehow that you left. Of course, I tried to tell him that he wasn't making any sense, but nothing I said did any good. Now that you're here, maybe you can set things straight."

Leon didn't remember ever feeling as guilty as he did just then.

000

Tbc


End file.
